The Shouting Men: Gillingham foward Josh Parker writes exclusively for the KM Group

By: KentOnline reporter multimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 00:00, 17 November 2017

I was happy with my goal on Saturday but just before scoring I thought I might have to be subbed.

I had a two or three-minute spell where I gave the ball away three or four times and I was thinking ‘what’s going on?’.

I was looking at Loves (Steve Lovell) and thinking ‘you might have to sub me here’.

Gillingham's Josh Parker Picture: Andy Jones

Normally when you give the ball away twice, the third pass you think will be easy but it was a simple pass and I gave it away again and I was thinking ‘oh my God’. I thought I was having a breakdown.

The goal overshadowed that little five-minute spell. I desperately needed that goal. I am not sure what others were thinking.

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I have scored four goals in my last three and if that form was to carry on, then I would be more than happy.

I have personal targets but don’t want to beat myself up if I don’t reach them because sometimes I find myself in a 3-5-2 and I can be playing in the back five, like a left-back.
I saw my old coach Tony Thompson just before I started scoring again and he told me I needed to have a target in my head of how many goals I want.

That is something that when I was playing under him and at QPR I would always set. If you surpass that, happy days. It gives you something to aim for.

Tony was my Sunday League coach but when I was unable to play football, because of my contractual dispute with Red Star, he was the person I was working for in a coffee shop which he owned. I enjoyed the experience, I had never done a normal job before.

I had early starts because it was in Willesden Green, which from my house was a 45-minute drive. I had to open up the shop and then stay until 9pm.

It was a hip-hop coffee shop. In the daytime it was somewhere where people could display their art for free. In the evening it would become an event space.

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It was like an adult community hub where they would do open mic nights, comedy, spoken word evenings and chess club.

For me it was good. I am usually quite shy when I don’t know someone but then when I am introduced to someone I will speak openly and I like conversation, I could talk all night. I met so many different characters and celebrities as well, like Nathalie Emmanuel from Game of Thrones.

Read the full column in Thursday's Medway Messenger